Personal Computer: Ship or Buy?

Hey there, as long as you are coming to Doha, I highly think that you should leave your lap top back home. It will definetly be much better and very cost effective idea that you buy one here according to your need. Here is Doha you can litraley find everything... the country (may be you know) has an outstanding open market, especially in elctronics...In addition there are a lot of options to buy used items with gurantee. Further more if you buy here you will rest assure that if (God forbids) any damage incured will have a wide option of maintaineces possibilities. So my advice is to come and buy one here and honestly the prices are to great extent reasonable and affordable.

Wishing you safe journey to Doha and pleasent stay in this peaceful lovely country.

Dr. Hanadi Mohamed

Hey there, as long as you are coming to Doha, I highly think that you should leave your lap top back home. It will definetly be much better and very cost effective idea that you buy one here according to your need. Here is Doha you can litraley find everything... the country (may be you know) has an outstanding open market, especially in elctronics...In addition there are a lot of options to buy used items with gurantee. Further more if you buy here you will rest assure that if (God forbids) any damage incured will have a wide option of maintaineces possibilities. So my advice is to come and buy one here and honestly the prices are to great extent reasonable and affordable.

Wishing you safe journey to Doha and pleasent stay in this peaceful lovely country.

Dr. Hanadi Mohamed

I'll suggest ASUS, a cost effective reliable brand - around 3500 to 5000 QAR bet i5 and i7 processors. Check at Lulu hyper for their offers.

If you are planning on living here for long, get a desktop from mercure hotel arcade marketplace in musherib. Prices are decent for custom made machines. If you are here for less than 2 years, buy a laptop from abroad. Prices might be reasonable, but choices are poor. You will find laptops with 3 year old components featuring the shelves.

My 5 cents.

If it is a desktop i think its not practical to ship it.

If you opt for laptop instead, i think its better to buy in Doha u dont need the latest model as u mentioned. as of me, im bringing my laptop bcause i dont have budget yet for a new one. othrwise, i dont want the hassle of carrying it.

Edna :-)

If you are gonna buy a laptop it will be much cheaper you buy it from States and carry along with you. The prices for latest laptops are very high compared to what you get in States.

Consider the warranty and support factor.

Buying locally is better option for getting local support

Click on the link to view Current Laptop Promotion at Carrefour, Doha. This will give you a general idea of the price (1$ = 3.65 QR)

http://www.carrefourqatar.com/carrefourqatar/English/promotions.asp

Pharkus;

Laptops _might_ (depending on the model) be up to 10% cheaper here than in the US, and you _can_ get around the Arabic keyboard problem by ordering (or in the souk), however the final decision should probably rest with your short & medium term living & travel plans, and what you plan to use the computer for.

If it is just for email/leisure use, you might consider a 300$ 'disposable' PC to buy here, and just take out the harddrive someday. Some international warranties don't operate as well as others - so check with your preferred make (preferably not with the salesman trying to close the sale!)

If you're just in Qatar for a year, a US-laptop might make more sense. If you're here for longer then who knows - you might even learn Arabic & be grateful for the dual-alphabet keyboard :-))

I got LG laptop from Jumpo electronics about 7 month ago (QR6500) and it is really great and it is lite, the only problem is the battery can only last for one hour but still I love it.

Also I have Dell laptop at the office and I really didn't like it at all.

Ayman

Mark,

I just got a Toshiba laptop to take out with me - in the UK they come with a 12 month international warranty, which can be extended to 3 years at a pretty good price, and there are 2 authorised Toshiba repairers in Doha.

Andy

Not easy to find active websites in qatar. Qatar has alot of growing to do when it comes to the IT sector.

Try here www.smartqatar.com

you may be able to find anc contact a couple of dealers. Otherwise go to the website of the brand you are interested in and look from there.

Mark, yes everything is pretty much standard. The only major difference is that PC and Laptops sold today in the ME generally have MS windows in Arabic and English, and the keyboard is also arabic and english, which can get REALLY frustrating at times until you get used to it.

I managed to bybass the Windows part and got just english, but I could do nothing about the keyboard.

I'll see if I can find any info on dealers in qatar with websites for you.

Thank you Moonbeam!

La Jolla

Thanks for the info.

It seems then that I should look into purchasing a laptop before I travel. Should I be aware of anything in terms of format or compatibility issues with a system purchased here in the States? I'm assuming that everything is pretty universal except for the electrical outlets. Is this accurate?

Thanks again.

Mark

just remember qatar runs on 220v. Not a problem with laptops.

La Jolla is right. More choice in the US. If you do buy a brand in the US and bring it here, try and get one that will give you either an international warranty or support.

Acer and Fujitsu Seimans are also popular in the ME.

Hope that helps.

PS. If you like digital photography, get your camera in the US. When I was looking at buying a camera, I noticed that some of the best prices were in the US.

Hi Mark,

Well, if you are looking for a less $$ solution, Dell is not popular in Qatar, people prefer Sony or Toshiba and other "elegant " brands. I don't think there's big price gap between Doha and States. The point is there's less choices in Doha than States. When I moved from La Jolla to Doha, I carried mine.